Paraphrasing/Transcript
Transcript Title text reads, The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. Tim sits at a desk with a pile of books. He's taking notes on index cards. Moby walks over and bumps the desk, knocking a stack of cards off the table. TIM: Hey, those are for my report! On-screen, Tim kneels down and starts picking up the cards. One of them is a letter. Text reads as Tim narrates: Dear Tim and Moby, what is paraphrasing, and how do I do it, and when? From, Millie. TIM: Good question. To paraphrase something pretty much just means you say it in your own words. A label appears, reading; paraphrase. Moby beeps. TIM: Well, it's useful for two reasons. When you’re taking notes on a piece of writing, putting an idea in your own words can help you understand the concept. And when you’re writing your report or paper, paraphrasing your source is a way to use the information you’ve learned without using a direct quote. On-screen, Tim writes on an index card. Moby beeps. TIM: Well, there are a few steps to writing a good paraphrase. First of all, you want to read the original carefully, making sure that you really understand it. On-screen, Tim grabs a dictionary off a nearby bookshelf and flips through it. TIM: Let's see…paraphrase. On-screen, the dictionary entry for the word, paraphrase, appears. Text reads as Tim narrates: To express the meaning of a written or spoken passage, or the words of an author or speaker using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity; to render or translate freely. Whoa, those are some big words. On-screen, Tim scans the dictionary entry and reads quietly to himself. TIM: Next, you want to close the book and write a couple of sentences that restate the idea of the passage. On-screen, Tim slams the dictionary shut. Moby beeps. TIM: Well, if you close the book, you can be sure you’re not just copying what you read. On-screen, Tim writes on an index card, and then reads from it. TIM: When you paraphrase, you use your own words to express the meaning of something someone has said or written. Paraphrasing can make information clearer. Paraphrasing can also mean translating something without worrying about making the content match exactly. When you’re finished, you open the book back up and check your paraphrase against the original to make sure you have all the important information. On-screen, Tim compares his index card to the dictionary entry. TIM: Hmm…oops. The tricky thing about paraphrasing is that you have to make sure you haven’t used any words or phrases that are unique to the text you’re paraphrasing. The phrase, 'to express the meaning of,' is exactly from the entry on paraphrasing, and it’s something I probably wouldn’t have said myself. On-screen, Tim underlines the phrase, to express the meaning of. TIM: So I’m going to put quotes around it. On-screen, Tim writes quotation marks around the phrase. TIM: Make sure to write down where you got the information from, too, so you can find the source again. On-screen, Tim writes, Oxford English Dictionary in parentheses after the quoted phrase. A label reads, source. TIM: Noting the source also means that you can avoid accidentally plagiarizing. Moby beeps. TIM: Well, plagiarism is when you copy someone else’s work and pass it off as your own. A label appears, reading, plagiarism. Moby beeps. TIM: Yeah, it’s bad. Sometimes it’s hard, though, to understand the difference between plagiarizing and paraphrasing. On-screen, a girl sits in a library. She copies text from a book onto a sheet of paper. TIM: Plagiarizing is not just when someone copies a passage word for word in a report or essay. It’s also taking someone else’s ideas. On-screen, a boy sitting in the library reads a book. A light bulb appears in a thought bubble over his head. TIM: Let’s say I read an essay that you wrote about how tigers are the funniest-looking animals because of their stripes and their huge whiskers. On-screen, Moby sits at a desk, writing an essay. He imagines a tiger lounging on the ground. Arrows point to its stripes and whiskers. TIM: Now, if I read that and decide to write an essay on how I think tigers are the funniest-looking animals because of their stripes and huge whiskers, that would be considered a form of plagiarism. On-screen, an identical tiger appears next to the first one, with arrows pointing to its stripes and whiskers. Moby beeps. TIM: Well, because I didn’t really come up with the idea myself. Even if I paraphrased what you said, it was based on your creative idea! If I didn’t credit you, that would be plagiarism. Now, when you want to use information that’s general knowledge, like information in an encyclopedia or dictionary, that’s when paraphrasing is usually okay. On-screen, a stack of books appears, including a dictionary and an encyclopedia. TIM: Or, if you are summarizing someone else’s work, but making it clear that the original work was theirs. On-screen, an open dictionary lies next to a computer. The monitor displays a typed version of Tim's paraphrase definition, with a footnote reading, Oxford English Dictionary. TIM: A good paraphrase doesn’t sound like the original piece of writing, but it should contain all the important details. On-screen, the dictionary entry for paraphrase appears. Most of the words disappear, except for the terms, paraphrase, meaning, different words, clarity, and translate. These terms are arranged into a list. TIM: Often, it’ll even end up being longer than the original. On-screen, Tim's index card appears next to the dictionary entry. The text on the card is longer. Moby beeps. TIM: Yeah, I know it sounds like a lot of work. And it’s not easy, but it’s definitely an important skill. On-screen, Tim looks down at the pile of index cards that Moby knocked onto the floor. TIM: Now, are you going to help me put these back in order? On-screen, Tim looks up. Moby is nowhere to be found. TIM: M…Moby? Category:BrainPOP Transcripts